Tuesday, May 01, 2012

From "Dodgers' sale deal doesn't close on schedule" by Bill Shaikin at the LA Times:

Frank McCourt bid farewell to his manager Saturday. The new owners of the Dodgers met with the players Sunday, in advance of an anticipated news conference Tuesday.

All of the activity revolved around the expected closing of the Dodgers' sale Monday. However, the deal did not close on schedule, leaving McCourt with ownership of the team for what appeared to be one final night.

The closing now is expected to occur Tuesday morning, according to three people familiar with the sale process. The sale does not appear to be in jeopardy, the people said.

The failure to close the sale came at the end of a day of meetings among attorneys for McCourt, MLB and Guggenheim Baseball, the incoming owners. The delay involved the approval of documents that had not been cleared by the court-appointed mediator supervising the sale, the people said.

McCourt did meet a Monday deadline to pay a $131-million divorce settlement to his ex-wife, Jamie, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment, eliminating the possibility that she could intervene in the sale process.

Hey, what's one more day after eight years of waiting? I mean, it's just one more day...right?

UPDATE: It is done. From "Dodgers sale closes; McCourt era ends" by Shaikin:

Frank McCourt surrendered ownership of the Dodgerson Tuesday, closing a turbulent chapter in the history of one of baseball’s most historic franchises.

The new owners wired the final payment on the record $2.15-billion purchase price on Tuesday, closing the transaction that ended the McCourt era and ushering in Guggenheim Baseball as the Dodgers’ third owner since the O’Malley family sold the team in 1998, individuals close to the negotiations confirmed.

The new ownership group, fronted by Magic Johnson and incoming Dodgers President Stan Kasten, is expected to hold its first news conference on Wednesday. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, who arranged the financing as chief executive of Chicago-based Guggenheim Financial, is expected to make a rare public appearance at the news conference.